How to make a .pdf from your file

I was told that you can convert from .xls to .pdf via Adobe but I’m not sure how to do that.  I’d love to know how if you will share.

~ Randy

Randy --

There are several free programs out there that allow you to create .pdf's out of almost any file. Adobe is one of them, but if you don't have other uses  for the full version of Adobe, you may want to try one of the free ones. My favorite is CutePDF. You can download it from Download.com. Go to download.com and search CutePDF.

After it's installed, it'll show up in your printer list. Open your doc (in this case your Excel file), go to Print, choose Cute PDF from the printer list and it'll make a .pdf, which you can save to your computer.

Presto! A pdf that can be shared with anyone.

Just for the record, I think I'll define .pdf. It's a file extension that stands for Portable Document File. The operative word here is Portable. PDF's have been around since ancient times to bridge the chasm between people with different applications installed on their computers. So, for example, if Randy creates a document in Excel and sends it to Adrienne, she can only open it if she has Microsoft Excel. This problem is solved by Randy translating the Excel file into a .pdf -- it's now Portable. PDF's can be read by Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is a free program that's become so universal, it's almost always pre-installed on new computers. If not, you can download it for free from the Adobe website  (adobe.com).

We have to thank Adobe for creating a universal reader that saves us all hours of frustration!